Exam Time Ruminations Pt. 2

The structure of my school is far from a democracy. Yeah, the stories of scary school-masters are a stereotype, but I’ve never really taken them seriously until I came to my current school. Like other schools, we have your normal principle, and while he does do much of the high-level work, he’s more of a puppet to the real master and the final decision maker. That privilege belongs to the Head of School (HOS).

First of all, let’s get something clear before I talk about what the HOS does to my school. She is only in that position because of nepotism. It just so happens that her husband is a major owner of the school. A few years back, she was the principle. She eventually left that position and created this one for herself. From what I’ve seen, she doesn’t have any qualifications or proof to show that she does belong where she is. That’s pretty significant. In a school like mine, a student’s relationship with the administration is important in determining their success.

There are two important things about our HOS. Firstly, her mind is ingrained with the image of the ideal, Indian student. She loves all those who can step into that mold, and scorns the ones who can’t, or don’t even try. Secondly, she’s a miser. She’ll jump at money making opportunities and circumvent discussions about spending it.

Above those two things is the reputation of the school, a thing both she and her husband hold with great importance. Together with her two attributes, these three things form the basis on which she makes any and all choices. Even though it’s hard to tell, she’s behind all the decisions made at my school: who’s fired and who’s hired, what trips to plan, what events to hold and how to hold them, who joins the student council, who gets an award, who gets recognized for the school’s success, everything is approved by her.

There’s no grey area with her. Those she likes are showered with praise and opportunities throughout their time at my school. The others, the ones in the ‘black,’ are insulted in front of other students and ignored otherwise. Spend just a few minutes with her and you’ll see who she loves and who she thinks is useless.

What does this mean for the school? Well, those she likes are favored to succeed. The rich kids with money to donate, and the ones who carry out her every whim and fancy are given each and every opportunity to succeed, and not all of them are legal. The rest, if they even want to, have to struggle to reach the top. In the end, all this does is create an environment where all the ‘others’ stop trying to succeed and resign themselves to coming in fourth place.

Now, you might say that this is a good system, because it’s survival of the fittest. I agree that survival of the fittest is a good policy in the workplace, because in that mechanism, both the workers with initiative and the company benefit. But in school, it is the job of the institution to ensure all the students succeed. That’s what families pay tens of thousands of dollars a year for. And while all of the HOS’s ideas may not be bad, this is definitely an imperfect system with an obvious replacement. And by replacement, I mean replacing her.

Exam Time Ruminations Pt. 1

Twice a year there comes a time in my school of wealthy kids where the majority of them actually consider picking up their books and reading. It’s ‘affectionately’ referred to as Exam Time. Don’t get the idea that any of them have very lofty goals; most are just trying to pass their subjects (50%). For some reason, the word ‘exam’ carries much more importance with them than the common test, even though both add up to give them their final grade.

Of course, their studying isn’t all that helpful. Most of it is just patchwork memorization. The kids learn formulas, but don’t really understand what they mean. One kid could easily rattle of the formula for acceleration, but couldn’t supply a simple definition of the same. Yet, even when the flaws in their revision methods are revealed, they just shrug it off. For most of them, these grades don’t matter. Their fathers have saved spots for them in the family business. The rest, those without businesses, are too ignorant to realize they have followed their wealthy friends into a trap that will mar them with regret for the rest of their lives.

Obviously, a large amount of the blame lies with the parents, who don’t bother to correct their child’s ways and mindsets. Yet a lot of it also has to do with the school’s culture…

Ruminations on Cultural Understanding

If you haven't yet read about, or finished, the guessing game below, please ignore this post for the moment, scroll down to the previous post, and read it.

With a few directed searches, I'm sure you all have guessed where I am now:

Mumbai, Maharashtra, India.

 

 

It hasn't been as big of a change for me as you would expect. My family often made trips to India over the summer, so I knew what life here was like before arriving. While I would prefer living in the US, this stay in India has taught me some important lessons.

 

One thing that seems so obvious in retrospect, but is really only apparent when you live in other countries, is that the world is huge. We never really appreciate the fact that despite being the same species, us humans have grown and developed a myriad of cultures that are so diverse that it would take lifetimes to experience, much less understand, all of them.

 

By coming to India, I am now able to see things from a completely different viewpoint that only an Indian can give me. Despite the diversity in the US, due to the fact that everyone I met was from the US, I could never get the point of view I get here.

 

Now, I truly understand what an enormous task international negotiations must be. Everyone around the world has different viewpoints, and very few people have clear understandings of viewpoints other than their own. This single fact is the sole impediment between humanity and peaceful collaboration.

 

That leads us to the point that the globalization we see today isn't really globalization unless it is free of a profit-motive. Once a person frees himself of greed, they can wholeheartedly launch themselves into learning about and comprehending other cultures and viewpoints. Even if they don't agree with that viewpoint, understanding it empowers them, because now they know the true reasons for a certain group's actions.

 

If I learn to understand the Indian during my stay here, I will carry with me a huge advantage. Indians are increasingly breaking out onto the world stage, and if I do any business in the future, chances are Indians will be involved. With a knowledge of the Indian mindset, I'll be able to deduce what motives guide an Indian, and therefore be infinitely more successful dealing with them.

 

Even if I fail at analyzing the Indian mindset, at least I'll return to the US knowing that there's a whole world out there for me to explore.

Return

It's been so long since the last post that this blog has almost died. But, suddenly finding myself with a wealth of time and many new interests, I've dedicated myself to a comeback. Unlike before, I will try my best to utilize all my efforts in maintaining this blog.

 

Of course, before starting, I need to give a few updates, and I have had some pretty major changes in my life.

 

1. With my sister's departure to MIT, my family has entered a new stage of life. And this new stage is taking place in a new location. As I write these words, it is the middle of the night in my previous home in Beaverton, Oregon. I'm in a city with a (purported) population of 18 million people. On the streets I can see S-class Mercs and street-dwellers driving and walking side by side. All around me are the sounds of construction, the drone of fans, and the smell of sweat, pain, hope, desperation, and contentment. Of course, I'm not in the US.
2. Now that the big one is out of the way, I can focus on the smaller changes. This blog is primarily going to focus on my activities and interests. One reason I am reviving the blog, and making dedications to maintaining it is so that I compel myself to find new interests and take up new projects.
3. Some posts may just be my own ramblings. I hope to share any insights of mine I find particularly helpful. Many of the first few posts will be like these, as I take time planning future, more practical, posts.

I assume many of you will have noticed that I left out where exactly I have moved to. If you have not guessed (the details were intentionally ambiguous), I implore you not to search for city population stats, and instead play a little game with me. Here are a few facts about the city I'm in. See how long it takes you to guess where I am.

 

1. This city was originally a cluster of seven islands.
2. This city saw its first economic boom during the American Civil War, becoming the world's most important cotton trading center.
3. This city is home to a mosque that can only be reached at low tide.
4. Despite being the richest city in its country, it is also home to a 535 acre slum.

If you couldn't get it yet, here's one last hint:

 

     5. The city derives its name from the name of a goddess of the Koli people.

 

                Just yesterday, I discovered a website, weseed.com, which allows anyone to “invest” in the stock market for free. Upon joining the website, you are given 10,000 dollars of WeSeed cash. The website has nearly every public company listed, and with your WeSeed funds, you can carefully research and invest in your favorite companies. While the results of your investments will be realistic, there is no risk involved.

                The thing I like best about the website is how much it encourages learning. For example, each company has a meter which shows how fair the price of the stock is according to analysts. This meter is either green, denoting a fair price for a stock, yellow, warning you the stock is slightly overpriced or undervalued, or red, signifying the stock price is highly overpriced or undervalued.  For example, I wanted to invest in GE stock. The meter was in the red zone, and WeSeed told me I should “do some digging” to find out what the case was. Lucky for me, I had the 2012 Fortune Investor’s Guide, and learned that GE stock is probably undervalued right now.

                WeSeed also offers a series of short lessons on economics that will furnish you with the basics you need to know to make educated decisions with your funds. However, intuition may be all you need to perform well in the market. According to WeSeed, inexperienced investors can perform just as well as many of the pros managing millions of dollars in assets.

                Who knows? With a modicum of practice, even you could be talking and trading like the pros. Of course, you may need to hit that reset button on your portfolio every now and then.

Following up with his interview on Fresh Air on NPR, I picked up the Future of Physics, a new book by physicist Michio Kaku. I have only just begun to read, but I am already intrigued by the idea.

The book centers on predicting the future up till 2100. All of the futuristic ideas presented in the book already have prototypes in various laboratories around the world. I have ventured a few pages into the book and have encountered computer chips the size of atoms and as cheap as scrap paper, contact lenses that can act as an interface to the Internet, and augmented reality glasses than can paint a false projection of the world around us.

One problem I have with this book is that it shows us a utopian image of the world in 2100. While it is always good to be optimistic, I feel that the author does not account for any of the downfalls of these new inventions. Of course, this is very early into the book, and he may address my concerns later on. To his credit, he has predicted the end of Moore’s law, a law governing how computing power should grow: at an astounding rate.

When I read about the use of computers to create an augmented reality, I was reminded of the Pendragon Adventure series of books. In one book, huge, futuristic pyramids were constructed on a very technologically-savvy planet. The entire population of the planet lived in these pyramids. The appeal was that the giant behemoths allowed the people to dream and live in an augmented reality they controlled, a perfect life, so to speak.

The downfall of this augmented reality was that the world outside slowly began to change as nature retook its property and began to encroach upon the pyramids. Worse, all the denizens were inside dreaming and had no wish to see whether the rumors of destruction outside were actually true.

Whether our future will one day turn out like this is unlikely, but only time can tell.

Matterhorn

Just two days ago, I finished reading the book Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes. Marlantes himself was a soldier in the Vietnam War and I was lucky to have read this novel after I read his latest book What it is Like to Go to War. The novel essentially follows the author's own tour in Vietnam, but he adds some extra ideas for storytelling effect and doesn't go into as much detail about his own feelings as each event occurred.

What really struck me about the book was how inefficient the handling of the war was. Not only was it a mistake to enter the war, but even more atrocities were committed under the radar after that as well.

Some of the bigger mistakes are easy to see: the battalion giving up a key hill and letting it fall into enemy hands, the battalion nearly starving its soldiers on an endless march (in the book, the soldiers name the march the "Trail of Tears Operation"). However, other smaller issues are ignored by the war commanders, most importantly racial issues. Eventually, this issue spins out of control, and a well-liked leader by soldiers of all color is accidentally killed.

Aside from cringing at all the mistakes the armed forces made during the war, just in this small Marine regiment alone, I was shaken by the raw emotion the characters expressed at each event, and how effectively they were conveyed. One such moment is when the main character is debating in his head whether he accidentally killed the young soldier he was trying to save, all the while knowing a bullet from his M16 was what pierced the young man's head.

All in all, I felt this was a very eye-opening look into one of the most controversial periods in American history. I just wish there were more books like it.